


Alcohol, and a Moment Alone

by KinomiAkai



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Confessions, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Pining, Smut, Underage Drinking, not a lot but there is some definite uhhhhhhhhh sexy stuff, warnings for mentions of child abuse/neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:15:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KinomiAkai/pseuds/KinomiAkai
Summary: Naruto knew, didn't he? / Surely Sasuke knew it too...SNS, modern AU, one shot.Chapter one is Sasuke's POV, chapter two is Naruto's - pick who you'd like to read first!
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 87
Kudos: 451
Collections: real good reads





	1. Sasuke's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah! This month's fic! I had it done and then I started replying to comments and I got to one by MadeNew and it sent me right back into pure inspiration mode. So thank you MadeNew!!! So this chapter is Sasuke's POV, but the next chapter is Naruto's POV of the same events. They don't need to be read in order, so pick whichever you'd like :)
> 
> I finally made a carrd! So all my links can be found [here](https://kinomiakai.carrd.co/) now :)
> 
> Thank you all for your patience and lovely words! I really hope you all like this :)
> 
> EDIT: this fic now has [super cute art!!](https://kinomiakai.tumblr.com/post/619389965096321024/diesel-this-is-the-cutest-thing-ahhhh-thank) Thank you dieseldrakilis!!! (Minor spoilers, so if you want to go in blind, don't click quite yet!)

The first time it happened, they were still in high school. Naruto was drinking—and holding up fairly decently, Sasuke thought, although he wasn't altogether sure how long that would be lasting. Sasuke, on the other hand, had stayed properly sober, thank you. He was in no rush to become more of an idiot than he already was, and if it had been up to him, he wouldn't have been here at all.

But, well.

Someone had to take care of this moron.

"Whew," Naruto sighed, "okay. That's better."

"That's _freezing_ ," Sasuke said, following him nonetheless. "You're insane."

"You're insane!" Naruto laughed, spinning around. "I figured you'd love it out here. Look!"

He spread his arms out and spun around again, his drink splashing threateningly towards the edge—

"Not a person in sight!"

"I can see one person," Sasuke deadpanned, and Naruto—

"Whoa—"

" _Moron_ ," Sasuke said, as Naruto stumbled his way into his resigned, slightly-panicked arms.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, swaying. "I'm okay. Whew. M'dizzy."

He laughed, looking up at Sasuke with that new, dazzling excuse of a smile he'd had a habit of pulling out recently. Only when he was in a—a particularly good mood, Sasuke had noticed. Not that he'd been—not that he'd been _noticing_ , of course he hadn't been, but Naruto was an idiot and Sasuke was used to taking care of him and he—and he—

Sasuke glared down at the concrete.

"Aw," came Naruto's voice, closer than a moment before, "damn. Still hate it, huh?"

Sasuke looked up.

"What?"

"You—" Naruto waved a hand, but all it did was make it to his hair again. "I dunno. Thought you might have fun. M'sorry for dragging you here. Wanna go?"

"What are you talking about? This is fine."

Naruto laughed.

"You look grumpy as fuck. Wanna go?"

"I'm having a perfectly grand time watching you make an utter fool of yourself," Sasuke said, crossing his arms tight. "Please, continue."

Naruto dissolved into giggles.

"Y'know, when you wanna be 'specially assholish, you start talking _exactly_ like Itachi—"

Sasuke swatted him over the head.

"You're an idiot," he said, as Naruto continued to laugh, "and I thought you came here to socialize. Stop wasting your time with me."

"I've already _socialized_ , asshole," Naruto said, bouncing his way right back in Sasuke's personal space. "Don't tell me what to do."

Sasuke shoved him away, and Naruto laughed, swaying back until he hit the wall of the building behind them. Sasuke had a moment of alarm as he suddenly sank to the ground, but—

"Are you—are you sitting? It's below zero out here!"

"I wanna sit," Naruto said, as if it was perfectly reasonable. "Fuck off. Come sit beside me."

Sasuke huffed out an exasperated breath, but dutifully did, swinging an arm over his knees as he pulled them close to his chest. His jeans were absolutely useless against the cold stone underneath them.

"Thanks," Naruto said, a veritable flame beside him in comparison to the air, "I feel weird."

"You are weird," Sasuke responded immediately, not looking back. "How so?"

"Mm," Naruto hummed, "I dunno. Just weird. Is Itachi picking you up after this?"

"He's picking you up too, moron."

Naruto looked back at him.

"Wh—huh?"

Sasuke scowled.

"What?" he asked. "Did you think I would just leave you stranded here? He drove us."

"Yeah, but—I don't—it's—um." Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "My—house gets, um, locked. At ten."

Sasuke closed his eyes, and reminded himself to breathe. It was a familiar feeling—this rush of anger so powerful that it made his head spin—and Sasuke hated that it was. Sasuke _hated_ that it was. Sasuke—

"They lock you out."

Naruto didn't reply.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open.

"What was your plan?" he asked, staring Naruto down— "To sleep on the street? Hide in the trees? What—"

"I didn't have one," Naruto snapped back, and Sasuke was silent. "I didn't—whatever. It doesn't matter. S'too late now."

Sasuke put Naruto's cup on the ground and put his hand in his hair.

"...My window unlocks from the outside."

"Your—huh?"

"My window can be unlocked from the outside," Sasuke said again. "It's broken. I haven't bothered fixing it. If you push it up in the right way, the whole thing comes free."

"Sas—"

"And tonight you're staying over anyway."

Naruto stopped talking.

Sasuke leaned back against the brick and stared firmly at the trees.

"...Stupid," he added, for good measure—just so Naruto knew.

"...Whoa," came Naruto's soft breath, and Sasuke turned just in time to see him swaying, blinking far more often than necessary. "I think—I—uh—"

He laughed—

"You've had enough to drink," Sasuke said, swiping Naruto's cup away from him. Naruto rocked towards the motion but didn't fight it, turning away ever so slightly, so Sasuke couldn't see his face.

"Yeah," Naruto said, with a voice that both managed to be breathless and awfully thick, "yeah, um. Want the rest of this?"

"If it means you'll have some water," Sasuke said, propping his own cup at Naruto's feet, "I'll drink whatever you want."

Naruto laughed.

"You're gonna regret saying that," he said, hiding his smile in what had formerly been Sasuke's water.

"I might," Sasuke replied, pausing before he brought the drink any closer— "This isn't the drink that Kiba mixed, is it?"

Naruto coughed out a laugh.

"No! No," he said, rocking back against Sasuke, "I had to pour that shit out. Who mixes _beer_ with _tequila_?"

"An idiot," he said. "What am I about to drink?"

"Uhhhh," Naruto said, very reassuringly, "uh. Um. Sakura gave it to me?"

"Incredible."

"Sas—!" Naruto laughed, flopping further into Sasuke's personal space. "It's fine! S'not bad. Try it."

Sasuke made a face.

"Trrrryyyy iiiiiitttt," Naruto whined, digging the back of his head into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke grunted in pain and shoved his arm behind Naruto's back, shifting them both so the moron could sit where he apparently so desperately wanted to.

Naruto giggled.

"Thanks. S'comfy. Where's—um—"

"Your water is by your foot. Don't kick it."

"Yeah, yeah, I—I won't. You gonna drink my drink or do I gotta?"

Sasuke sighed, and lifted whatever this was to his lips.

At least it was nearly empty.

"Mm," he deadpanned, as the burning slid down his throat, "tastes like shit."

Naruto dissolved into laughter.

"It's not that bad! It—"

"There is _syrup_ in my mouth."

"Aw, crap, I forgot you hate sweet stuff," Naruto said, laughing. "I—you don't have to drink that, here, gimmie—"

"I will give you absolutely nothing," Sasuke said, pulling the cup out of his reach. "Don't— _moron_ , you—"

Naruto snatched the cup out of Sasuke's hand, and that was the last of that.

"There!" Naruto announced, waving the empty cup in the air, _surely_ unaware that he was very much still straddling Sasuke. "Whoa—"

Sasuke caught his wrists before the entire moron toppled over.

Naruto grinned.

"Gotcha," he said, and Sasuke had no idea what he was talking about.

He was right, though.

"Idiot," Sasuke said, and Naruto's grin widened. The happiness was back in his eyes, glittering in full blast as he laughed at Sasuke again. And Sasuke didn't fight him—didn't fight the way Naruto's weight was sinking, the way he was leaning closer—as if he could, when he was so—

Naruto leaned in, and Sasuke's eyes fluttered closed.

He should have expected Naruto's lips would be warm, Sasuke thought. He should have known this would take his breath away. He should have known how weak he would feel—how useless, how utterly unable to resist, he—

Naruto sprang back.

"Think I'm gonna be sick—"

He flopped over, and Sasuke scrambled after him.

* * *

The second time it happened, Sasuke was in his room. He was alone in his bed, finally starting to fall asleep after he'd forced himself to admit it had grown late enough that Naruto wouldn't be bursting through his window anytime soon. It felt as if he'd been here nearly every other night after Sasuke had given the invitation. When they had…

Sasuke heaved out a breath, rolling over.

It had been several months. Almost four, and Sasuke was still obsessed with the memory. Naruto wasn't—he knew. Naruto's memories were a blur. He hadn't realized just how much the idiot had had until he'd been sick from it all, and now—well—

There was very little from that night that the moron could actually pick out.

Which was fine. It was good. It was a relief, Sasuke told himself, he was relieved, desperately so, because the fallout of Naruto remembering the way he'd kissed Sasuke would have been—

_Crash._

Sasuke nearly leapt out of bed. There was—

"Jesus fucking Christ," Sasuke said, falling back against his bed as his heart beat a hole in his ribs. "Do you not believe in _texting_?"

"I—" Naruto said, with one leg hanging through the hole in Sasuke's room. "I—I don't have my phone. Um. Sorry, I—"

"Your feet are bare," Sasuke said, staring, "Naruto—it's barely even spring, what the fuck are you—get inside, get—"

He wrenched the idiot in—who apparently had little more than a flimsy pair of pajamas to his name—and shoved him back into the bed, tossing all the blankets around him before he went back to deal with the window. _Seriously_. No self-preservation.

"Sorry," Naruto said, and the blankets were _already_ falling off his shoulders. Sasuke glared at him and pulled them up again—tighter, this time—

"Um. No, hang on, I brought—"

He grinned and poked his hand out, holding a bottle of—something clear and alcoholic. God.

"Alcohol again?" Sasuke muttered, snatching the bottle from him to shove it somewhere safer. (It was freezing, too.) "I thought you learned your lesson."

"Yeah, well, I—" Naruto let out a small, hesitant laugh. "I—I snatched it as revenge. They keep 'em out on the porch in winter. Um. I don't have much else to offer you, though, I—"

"Don't offer me anything," Sasuke said, snatching Naruto's hand out of the blanket to press it between his own. "You're freezing."

"I'm okay," Naruto whispered, and Sasuke turned his glare on him. It made Naruto immediately flinch away.

"Don't," he started, "um. Don't call anyone, okay? It's better if I—I'm moving out next month, and I just...I just want to go."

Sasuke breathed out.

"I just want to go."

"Fine," Sasuke said, dropping Naruto's vaguely warm hand to start on the other. "But you should just start coming here straight from school."

Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, Itachi'd love that."

"Itachi wouldn't mind."

Naruto threw him a disbelieving smile, and Sasuke pressed his lips together harder. _Fuck_ this. He hated this. He felt so useless when Naruto—

"Relax," Naruto laughed. "It's not that bad. I coulda snuck back in and I didn't."

"Don't blame yourself," Sasuke said, and it sounded like a snap. He hadn't meant it to. But he just—

Naruto laughed at him again.

"You get all like," he wiggled forwards, "puffed up when you're mad. Is that why your hair gets so spiky? Like a chicken—"

"You're on your own," Sasuke muttered, throwing the blankets back over him.

"Sure I am," Naruto said, and Sasuke _refused_ to turn around. "Um—sorry to wake you though. I figured—I thought, since it was Friday, we could—"

"We can," Sasuke said. "I'll...grab us some glasses."

He spared Naruto one more glance before he left. That certainly explained why the idiot hadn't been responding to him tonight, but—

 _Slap_.

Sasuke sprang three feet into the air. Itachi pulled his hand back from the counter, raising an eyebrow before Sasuke looked back at what he'd slapped down—

A...key?

"What—?"

"Will you _kindly_ tell that boy," Itachi said, turning around, "to use the front door."

Sasuke spun all the way around, the excuse right on his tongue—

"—amn heart attack."

Itachi's door closed.

Oh.

Sasuke breathed out.

Oh.

He slid the key into his hand. He hadn't...maybe he should have known Itachi would know. Naruto wasn't exactly quiet...but…

Damn it, Itachi.

He shook his head, fighting the smile as he reached up for the two glasses that were most likely to live an encounter with a blonde moron. The key sat neatly in his palm—Naruto's key, apparently, which he'd have to convince him to keep safer than his phone—as he carried them back to the bedroom.

Naruto was still a bundle of blankets, when he looked back. Still hunched over, huddled together—but he looked up, throwing Sasuke an awkward smile as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

He slid the glasses onto the table and shoved the key into Naruto's hand.

"Wha—"

"From Itachi."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed.

"I'm debating sewing it into your hair," Sasuke continued, opening whatever Naruto had brought, "considering your incredible ability to misplace things."

He poured them both a glass, not looking back—even as Naruto let out a breathless laugh.

"I—no, I'll—"

Sasuke looked back.

Naruto grabbed his ankle and pulled it to his face, using his teeth to untie the too-long string he'd wrapped around it weeks ago.

Gross.

Naruto dumped the beads all over Sasuke's bed.

"Moron," Sasuke muttered, scooping them up. Naruto was trying to thread the key through the string, now, but he couldn't quite seem to do it—there was a shake to his hands that hadn't been there a moment ago. Sasuke sighed, shoving the beads onto the bedside table so he could do it himself—

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, as Sasuke wove it through.

"You only ever apologize for stupid things," Sasuke said. "Where do you want this?"

"Um. Around my neck?"

"Lean down."

Naruto dutifully bowed his head, and Sasuke stretched up a little further so he could see the back of his neck. He tied it loose—loose enough to be hidden, if Naruto should want it—but tight enough that it wouldn't be coming undone anytime soon. And then a few more knots, for good measure.

"Done."

Sasuke pulled back, and Naruto clutched the key in his hand.

"Thanks," Naruto whispered, not letting go. Sasuke swallowed and looked away. The drinks were a convenient distraction, and Sasuke used them fully—passing Naruto his and bringing his own to his lips. It—

Sasuke spluttered and coughed.

"This is disgusting," he hacked out, shoving it back onto the table.

"It's _straight_ ," Naruto said, the laughter colouring his quiet voice. "Most people mix it with some _juice_ or something—"

"I'm getting juice."

Sasuke turned on his heel, and Naruto's laughter followed him. They had some orange juice in here or something...he'd only brought his own cup, though, so he was really better off just bringing the whole carton with him back…

Sasuke pushed his door back open, and eyed the bundle of blankets—which had significantly flattened.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, the only part of him visible being the hand that had stretched out to slip the glass onto the table. "I didn't—m'more tired than I realized. Sorry, I'll—"

"Stay down," Sasuke said, as soon as the blankets started shifting again. "Go to sleep, moron."

The bundle shifted again, and Naruto's sleepy, red-rimmed eyes looked up at him.

"You sure?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"No," he deadpanned. "I demand that you wake up right now. Fuck your needs."

Naruto laughed.

"Okay, 'kay—dick," he mumbled, and Sasuke swiped around the bed to fix up the table before everything smashed to the floor. He'd hide the beads somewhere they wouldn't roll off into whatever void he was sure they would find—the bottle could go to the floor. He ought to take Naruto's drink, too…

Sasuke grabbed his book and his drink—with _juice_ , this time—and settled in beside the moron. Naruto's eyes were closed and his breaths were slow...his hand stayed still over where the key sat, and the blankets were still bundled around him. Sasuke would be lucky to get any at all, tonight.

Sasuke brought the drink up to his lips, and stared firmly at the wall.

It had been...annoying, recently. Annoyingly prevalent—these stupid thoughts and ideas and urges. It had taken him long enough to admit that Naruto had very firmly secured his place as Sasuke's best friend (although one and only friend might have been a more accurate statement), and now... _this_ …

Sasuke breathed out.

He didn't want any part of this. He was sure it was only temporary, anyway. Naruto was—he was—okay, yes, he was someone who meant far too much to Sasuke. Ever since his parents had—

Well.

It had just—it had just been nice to have someone who didn't gawk at the sight of him. Or look like they wanted to burst into tears—god fucking knew that Sasuke had been close enough to that at all hours of the day. Sasuke had been frustrated and hollow and _so fucking angry_ , and Naruto had got up in his face and goaded the ever-living shit out of him until he had lashed it all out at once—

At Naruto. On Naruto. He'd felt even more hollow, after that.

But Naruto had only laughed. Called him an asshole and asked him what he was planning to do on their "vacation".

It was a suspension.

It had been a start to something that had been...irreversible. Sasuke hadn't been able to stop it. And now Sasuke could hardly begin to imagine his life without a blonde moron at his side, and he had certainly never planned to care for someone this much, not again, but none of that—

None of that mattered.

He needed to kill these feelings before they could really begin. Cut them off and let them die. Naruto had certainly never begun to develop them, and that meant they had no place here.

Sasuke shoved his empty cup away and started on Naruto's. One of them ought to finish these, anyway.

"Mm—ph…"

Naruto mumbled out a breath and rolled over, finally letting go of the key. All that managed to do was free his arm to flop over Sasuke—seeking his body heat, no doubt. Not anything more. It was nice, though, to see his face so...soft. Peaceful. No fake smiles, no too-loud laughter. Not that he'd been doing much of either recently, but ever since Sasuke had somehow developed the ability to see through it all, it had been driving him absolutely insane.

The alcohol burned down his throat, and Sasuke slipped down the headboard a little bit more.

But Naruto would be happier soon, and Sasuke would...likely be with him. Sasuke had gotten his early acceptance to Naruto's first choice university already, and as firm as Naruto's doubt in himself was, Sasuke knew he'd get in, too. It was unlikely that Sasuke's own first choice would accept him, anyway, after the early letters had come and gone—which left Sasuke secure in his knowledge that this time next year, he'd...still be exactly where he was.

At Naruto's side.

He let out a breath and shoved the second empty glass next to the first. He probably needed to brush his teeth again, but the dark and the quiet was settling into him, too. He shuffled down and until he was laying properly—tucking one arm under his head so he could turn to face this...moron.

Sasuke breathed out.

There really was something...stupidly beautiful about him. Obnoxiously so. Sasuke usually got by by blaming it on his eyes, but even asleep, Naruto looked...just…

Impossible.

Sasuke tucked a bit of Naruto's hair away from his face. The last time he'd been this close—well—that was exactly the memory he was trying to stuff down into the furthest corner of his mind.

It was here, now, though.

It was here. Sasuke swallowed and let his eyes drop. Naruto's lips looked just as soft as they had felt that night. Soft and warm and Sasuke just needed to _forget_ about it, but how could he? How could he, with Naruto, right here? With only the briefest memory of ever feeling him? If he—if he could just—if he could just have that moment, again—once more, if he could—

Sasuke pressed forwards.

It—it wasn't much. Sasuke didn't let himself stay for long. Just long enough to know. Just long enough to tide himself by. It was a small, chaste, close-mouthed kiss, and Sasuke felt it like a breath. He felt it like the wind was knocked right out of him—he pulled back and he gasped, biting the back of his hand as he tore himself away.

He turned around and laid, reeling, with his back firmly to Naruto.

He stayed that way for the rest of the night.

* * *

The third time it happened, they were well into university. Well, Sasuke was, and if the small glimpses of Naruto's life he'd managed to glean were to be believed—Naruto was doing just fine. He was alright. He'd likely have been doing better if Sasuke wasn't such a fucking coward, but then, wouldn't they all—

"Oh," said Sakura, who had strongarmed Sasuke into being here, "there he is."

Sasuke turned.

And there he was.

Blonde, tanned, and _far_ taller than Sasuke remembered him being—far more muscular, too. If this is what Sakura called "doing okay" then Sasuke—

Blue eyes met his, and the smile slid off his face.

Fuck.

 _Fuck_.

He hadn't meant to. He hadn't meant for any of this—Sasuke had gotten his early acceptance and then Naruto had gotten _his_ acceptance and for a solid week of bliss, they'd been sure they would end up together, but—

But then Sasuke had gotten another offer.

Sasuke wrenched his eyes away.

"Sasuke!"

What?

Naruto laughed, grabbing him by the hand to pull him into a one-armed hug. Sasuke stumbled into him and then stumbled right back, blinking—

"Good to see you, man," Naruto said, clapping him on the shoulder. His smile didn't at all match the seriousness in those eyes—that narrowed gaze that bored a hole right through Sasuke's heart—

But Naruto slipped right by, as if it was nothing.

"Oh—whoa, Kiba! No way!"

Naruto laughed himself away, and Sasuke remembered how to breathe.

"Mhm," said Sakura.

"Fuck off," he snapped at her, but it sounded more like a gasp—

"You could just text him, you know."

"Fuck _off_ ," he snarled, shoving his way through the crowd. Sakura had no idea. She couldn't even begin to know. It was far too late now for any sort of apology and it was better off this way anyway. Naruto was better off—one look at him could prove that. He was fine without Sasuke, it was Sasuke's own fault, and he—

He needed another goddamn drink.

Sasuke spun on his heel. He could just leave. He knew he could leave. He knew that Sakura had obviously planned this, from how fucking relentless she had been about him being here. But Naruto was—Naruto was—

Sasuke stopped, one hand on the door to the kitchen.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, laughing at something someone other than Sasuke had said. Not a fucking photo he'd managed to see had captured an inch of this. Naruto had grown—into himself, into what he could be, and Sasuke—

Sasuke hadn't aged a day.

He shoved his way into the kitchen, scowling. Useless—fucking useless, and just as weak as he'd always been. He finished the rest of this drink and started on the next one—a mix, because he was an idiot, with that particular brand of vodka Naruto had stolen from his foster parents when they were still in high school.

It still burned just as strong.

Sasuke heaved out a breath, staring into the glass.

There was no point to this.

No point at all. One look at him and the smile had been struck from Naruto's face—replaced by that fake thing Sasuke had come to despise. It was best, really, for him to quietly finish this drink, and disappear.

Like he had before.

He swallowed, and pushed the kitchen door back open, glass in hand. He could duck into one of the other rooms—one where there were less of them, and make his way out of here. Out of this mess. He couldn't talk to Naruto—not now. Not anymore. They were better this way. They were—

"Dare," said a voice, and Sasuke immediately knew who it was. It should have stopped him in his tracks, but he turned the corner instead—

"Ooh," said a different voice, "kiss the next person who walks in."

Sasuke stopped.

Naruto's eyes zeroed in on him.

"Okay."

What?

Naruto stood up.

"What?" Sasuke asked again, out loud, this time—

"Can't go back on my word," Naruto started, shifting around the chairs in the room, "can I—"

Naruto stopped, and looked him dead in the eye.

"—Sasuke?

Sasuke couldn't breathe.

Naruto balled his shirt in his fist and wrenched him forwards.

There was no hesitation in this kiss. No tenderness, no chastity, no soft question and no delicate answer. Naruto pressed him into the wall and wove him from the inside out, filling him with anger and frustration and desperate, desperate longing—

And then, it was gone.

Naruto pulled back, and his gaze wrote an essay in Sasuke's mind. It wrote a poem, it shouted a speech into his brain, and Sasuke breathed in to reply—

Naruto turned around.

"How was that?" he asked, laughing as the group cheered. He wove his way back to where he'd been sitting before, and Sasuke fell back out of the room—

He left his drink on the counter, and stumbled his way home.

* * *

The fourth time it happened, Sasuke was drunk.

Drunker than he'd ever been. Sasuke had never been one for alcohol, but—well—it was too late now. It was too late to turn back, too—he was already up the stairs, up to apartment 304, up to the back entrance, which had a screen door and the real door, Sasuke slammed his fist on it a good five times—

"Yeah, I'm comi—"

Naruto froze.

Sasuke stumbled forwards and kissed him.

He didn't think. He didn't _want_ to think. He could just kiss Naruto instead, like he'd wanted to for so—

Naruto shoved him back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke blinked at him.

"How did you—how did you find this place?"

"...Sakura told me," Sasuke mumbled, the room spinning around him. "I...shouldn't be here."

He turned around. The door was closed? He—

"What? No! No—Sasuke, you—will you stop trying to leave!"

Sasuke froze.

Naruto spun him right back around.

"What are you—are you drunk?"

Sasuke blinked in reply. Did he have a response to that? Should he have? He…

"Asshole," Naruto said, and it came out as a whisper. "...Just—let me get you some water. Sakura told you to come here?"

"No," Sasuke said, blinking around him. He was in—Naruto's kitchen, from the looks of things.

Oh.

He was in Naruto's kitchen. He was in—

"Here," Naruto said, shoving a glass into his hand.

"Thank you," said Sasuke's mouth. Was Naruto taking care of him? Why would he be taking care of him? He… "You poison this?"

"I think you poisoned yourself enough already," Naruto said, a small smile flittering across his face before it disappeared—hardening into something colder.

Something expectant.

Sasuke's stomach dropped.

"I…" he started, scanning everything Naruto was with a messy, loose focus that didn't at all let him take it in like he wanted to. But Naruto looked good. Naruto looked great—of course he did. He always had, from his eyes to his jawline to his collarbones to his—

"You're still wearing the key," Sasuke said, staring.

Naruto's hand flinched up to his neck.

"That—it's—that doesn't matter. It's useless now," he said, stepping back. "Why are you here? I stopped texting you months ago."

"I know," Sasuke said, and it made Naruto's brow furrow. Sasuke didn't know why, Sasuke hadn't—

"You didn't block my number?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke—

Shit. He swallowed and looked away. It wasn't as if he hadn't considered it. It would have been easier. He could have tried. But something in him had desperately needed to know Naruto hadn't forgotten him—

Until he had.

"You look good," Sasuke whispered. "I should go."

"Wh—will you stop trying that! You fucking asshole, you're here already—just tell me why you're—"

He spun Sasuke back around, and Sasuke stumbled, splashing water all over the floor.

"Sorry," Sasuke breathed out, pushing the cup onto the table. There were paper towels right here, he could clean it up—he'd clean it up, and then he'd—

"Sas—Sasuke, it's fine, stop—" Naruto pulled him back up, "just tell me why you're here."

Sasuke stared into his eyes. God, no camera ever did those eyes justice, he—

"I wanted to see you."

Naruto stared at him. His eyes darted all over Sasuke's face and Sasuke didn't know what he found, but he—

"Okay," he said, sounding hesitant, "better question. What the fuck, Sasuke?"

Sasuke flinched, but Naruto held strong.

"Why'd you leave? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sasuke breathed in.

"I," he said, his heart the only thing he could feel through the haze of alcohol, "I thought you'd want me to reconsider."

Naruto stared at him, and then his lips thinned.

"Wow," he said, his voice hard. "Good to know what you actually thought of me."

He didn't know how long it was before Naruto turned around. He knew when he did, though, and the panic flooded through him as if it was the blood in his veins—

"I would have," he said, and Naruto stopped.

"I would have reconsidered," Sasuke said. "If you'd said anything. Like it fucking mattered what school I went to anyway. Degrees are the fucking same."

His voice devolved into a harsh mutter as he went on, and he collapsed to the floor, sitting up and staring at the tile. It had felt so fucking _important_ at the time, like it was the most important thing he'd ever do. All people had talked about was who had gotten to which school, and Sasuke hadn't wanted to disappoint Naruto just as desperately as he'd wanted to follow in his parents' footsteps—

But what did that matter? They were still dead.

Sasuke glared at the floor, and his eyes burned.

"Sasuke," came Naruto's voice, and Sasuke's head jerked up. He'd nearly forgotten— "you're an idiot."

Sasuke blinked.

"I didn't care where you went. I just didn't want to lose you." And he laughed, there—a sharp, painful noise that had the lump in Sasuke's throat back in full force. "And it was your fucking parents'—I would have—if you had just said something, I could've—"

Naruto breathed out, waving a hand.

Sasuke's cheek suddenly felt wetter.

"I'm an idiot," he whispered.

"Yeah," Naruto laughed, incredulous, "yeah. You're an idiot."

Sasuke breathed out, something loosening in his chest—in his heart—

"Come on," Naruto said, reaching down. "You should lay down."

* * *

The fifth time it happened, they were at a housewarming party. Sakura's housewarming party, to be exact, and Naruto had expressed no less than fifteen times how fucking weird it was that one of them had managed to become an adult—

Then again, there were about twelve people attempting to cram into the same hot tub.

"No, no, we can make room!" Ino insisted. "Everybody needs to cuddle. Come on, we're all adults here, time to cuddle—"

Naruto laughed, throwing his arm around Sasuke as he moved closer for the millionth time. Not that Sasuke minded, no, but he was still expected to mind quite a bit, and so he forced himself to ignore the bursting heat of Naruto's smooth, gorgeous skin, and frown at the touch instead.

Naruto's eyes only glittered in response.

"There we go. Drinks all good?"

"I think I've got hot tub water in mine," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke ducked his head to hide his smile.

" _You_ do?" he deadpanned. "You're practically in my lap."

Naruto laughed, responding by wrapping one arm and tucking his legs over Sasuke's shoulder.

"My hero," he sang, fluttering his eyelashes.

Sasuke shoved him into the water.

"Boys!" Sakura called. "Limits on the horseplay, please? This is a grown-up house."

Naruto shoved himself onto Sasuke's lap.

"Yes, ma'am, sorry ma'am," he said, wiggling himself back at Sasuke.

"Ugh, fuck off," Sasuke grumbled, shoving Naruto to the side—he couldn't _breathe_ when he squashed him like—

"Okay! Okay, we all fit. Nobody move."

Sasuke froze.

Naruto leaned right back.

"Good. Now—everybody got some champagne?"

Naruto raised his glass, and all Sasuke managed to do was keep ahold of the idiot before he fell right over—

"Okay," Sakura said, floating forwards. "Thank you all. It's been a weird, crazy few years. And it's somehow managed to work out," she laughed, "in the weirdest, _craziest_ way."

She threw Ino a smile, and Ino made a point of flicking her hair back. Sasuke felt the soft rumble of Naruto's laugh against his chest.

"And I think that's something worth celebrating," Sakura continued—

"But if any of you puke in our hot tub, you're paying for a new one," Ino interjected, and Naruto laughed again. All it really managed to do was rock him back into Sasuke, nuzzling his hair into Sasuke's neck and pressing his back to his chest. The loose ends of the cord scraped across Sasuke's skin—with two keys hanging from it, now. Sasuke hadn't quite been able to bring himself to remind the moron to take it off...

"So—okay, whatever, no more speeches. Cheers!"

"Cheers!'

Naruto laughed, tossing a bit of his champagne back before his eyes turned to Sasuke.

"You're out," he said, leaning close to Sasuke's ear. "Share with me."

He tilted his glass towards Sasuke's mouth, and Sasuke snatched it from him before he could manage to break it. Still, it left him holding the empty glasses after they were both done, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel as if Naruto had somehow played him—

Naruto threw him a grin, and something in Sasuke's heart melted.

"Need another drink?" he asked, as Naruto leaned back again.

"Mm, yeah," he said, smiling. "But I don't wanna move."

Sasuke breathed out. Naruto settled back so easily and comfortably, and Sasuke stayed in tortured bliss as that skin slipped against his. His hips shifted, again, as if adjusting the way they sat for any discomfort Sasuke's lap might be giving him—and _god_ , Sasuke hoped it wasn't. Between Naruto's bathing suit and his own, there were two pathetic sheets of fabric between him and something awkward and horrifying, and yet Naruto pressed back as if he didn't notice any of that at all, and Sasuke—and Sasuke—

Sasuke was dizzy, drunk and terrified.

He clenched the edge of the hot tub. Naruto pushed back, again, laughing at something Sasuke couldn't bring himself to hear, and Sasuke wrenched his mind back to himself and reminded himself to breathe. He still knew the quadratic equation, right? He could recite the periodic table. Anything to distract himself from—

"Mmph," Naruto moaned, stretching back, "you don't mind this, do you?"

Sasuke stared at his mouth.

"It's fine," he said, his grip on his mind trembling—

"You're holding two empty cups," Naruto pointed out, and Sasuke could feel his breath...his lips were already wet and he was...so very close…

"C'mon," Naruto said, his voice low and beckoning, "let's give these people some breathing room."

He hopped out of the tub, grabbing the glasses out of Sasuke's hands before he had a chance to protest. Not that he would have, really—a moment alone with Naruto was worth far more than any in a crowd, but that—that—

That type of thinking was bound to get him in trouble.

Sasuke pressed his lips together and focused on following Naruto into the house. A shout of "towels!" followed them, and it made Naruto turn—straight into the towel that Sasuke already held for him. His own was tucked under his arm.

"Thanks," Naruto said, shooting him a grin.

Sasuke nodded, choosing to stare at the grass, instead. It was either that, the sun, or something far brighter.

Naruto laughed, as if hearing his thoughts. Sasuke followed him into the house, keeping his gaze _down_ , and not—not on anything else. Not on the swim shorts that sat so fucking low on Naruto's hips, and _not_ on the way they somehow had managed to be the exact same colour as Naruto's eyes, either. He'd nearly had a heart attack the moment the man had walked out of the washroom, and he hadn't even been _wet_ —

So Sasuke's eyes were down.

Very much...down.

"Oh my god," Naruto laughed, "I'm getting water everywhere. Where's the bathroom? It's not thi—"

"The next one," Sasuke said, abandoning the glasses in favour of pulling the moron in. He let go as soon as they were in, blinking as Naruto paused, in the doorway—

Naruto kicked the door shut.

Sasuke breathed in.

"I'm...going to get changed," Naruto said—carefully. Hesitantly. As if he was watching Sasuke for something—

"Oh," Sasuke said, "I'll—"

Sasuke ducked around him, and Naruto moved to the side, pressing himself to the wall. His gaze was downturned and somewhere past Sasuke, and that was all Sasuke's heart needed to freeze him still—

Naruto looked up.

For a moment, time stopped. Sasuke stared at Naruto and Naruto stared back at him—Sasuke rocked back and felt reality warp around him—warp around Naruto, twisting into some sort of vacuum, pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling—

Sasuke fell forwards.

It was barely a moment of a kiss—just long enough for Sasuke's world to right itself again, just long enough for his head to catch up to the alcohol, just long enough for him to rip himself away—

"Sorry. Sorry, I—"

"No," Naruto said, pushing forwards, "no, no, no—"

Naruto kissed him. Naruto pressed him back against the counter and kissed him, pushed their bodies together and _kissed_ him, Sasuke moaned into his mouth—Naruto was smooth and wet and white hot, pushing their hips together in the delicious friction that had been teasing Sasuke all night—Sasuke forgot where he was and who he was and tugged Naruto shorts down until their cocks pressed together—he felt Naruto's hand wrap around them and he _reeled_ —

"Ah—"

Naruto's mouth was hot and unrelenting, his kiss full of a passion that drove Sasuke _wild_ , he could barely think through the haze of pleasure—their breath mixed together in vicious pants, their mouths as wet as their bodies, Naruto's cock was slick and soft and his hand was deliciously rough, deliciously fast and deliciously uneven, like he could barely focus through the feeling—

"Sas—"

Sasuke trembled.

"Oh, god, Sas—"

Sasuke arched—

"—s'ke, Sasuke—"

Sasuke came.

Reality filtered back to him in chunks. In harsh, jagged pieces—in Naruto's breath, still heavy, panting against his skin—in the cum on his stomach, not only his own—in his spine, shoved painfully back into the counter—

"I—" Naruto breathed out, and Sasuke breathed in—

"We should—um, get cleaned up."

"Right. Yes."

Naruto pulled back, and Sasuke was cold again.

* * *

The twelfth time it happened, Sasuke was waiting for it. Naruto had finished his Masters degree after three years of blood, sweat and frantic imposter syndrome—and it was their apartment, for once, that was playing host to the celebration of it all. A celebration that was well-deserved, in Sasuke's opinion, although he had shared a scarce few of the same doubts Naruto had—but still...loud. Sasuke desperately craved his silence back, and he'd shut himself in his bedroom for the better part of ten minutes in an attempt to remember what that bliss was like—

"Thought I'd find you in here."

Sasuke's lips twitched.

"In my own room?" he asked, as Naruto shut the door behind him. "Groundbreaking."

Naruto laughed, and Sasuke shuffled aside so he could sit on the bed beside him. It wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence to have him here; no, Naruto had quickly and easily snuck himself into Sasuke's room as kids, and that...appeared to have formed a habit.

Sasuke's lips twitched.

A habit that not even their years apart had managed to break, apparently. Sasuke wondered if the relief in his heart had made it to his face the first time Naruto had come back. They hadn't even been living together, back then…

"Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, held his drink to his chest, and didn't reply.

Naruto's smile widened.

Sasuke made no attempt at hiding the way he stared. At one time in his life, he might have. At another, he certainly would have. But there was no point to it now.

Naruto knew, didn't he? Alcohol, and a moment alone. Those had been the only ingredients needed, in the past...

Sasuke finished his drink, and slid it onto his bedside table.

"You look warm," Naruto said, and Sasuke snorted.

"There's a hundred people crammed into this apartment," he drawled, leaning back. "Everyone is warm."

"There's like twenty! Not even," Naruto laughed, nudging himself closer. Sasuke huffed out a breath and shifted his legs—a movement Naruto took as an invitation to shuffle right in, apparently. Sasuke sat up to match the angle of his torso properly.

Naruto's fingertips overlapped, ever so slightly, with his.

"There's not that many people."

"There are," Sasuke told him. "You have an obnoxious amount of friends."

Naruto ducked his head.

"An obnoxious amount of friends," Sasuke continued, watching the way his face flushed, "obnoxiously celebrating an obnoxious amount of accomplishment."

"Oh, like you're one to talk, _med school_ ," Naruto shot back, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. It was only another moment before Naruto shrank back into his happy embarrassment again.

"I," he ducked his head down, twisting his fingers through his hair, "I didn't think I could do it."

"I knew you would," Sasuke said immediately.

Naruto breathed out a small laugh.

"'Course you did," he said, rocking back only to lean in closer. "I mean—as a kid, though. This is...I never thought I'd ever be smart enough to pull this off. I really thought I was…"

Sasuke tugged Naruto's hand away, pushing his own hand through Naruto's hair to beckon those eyes to turn back to him.

"Have you finally been convinced otherwise?"

Naruto laughed, leaning into Sasuke's hand. (Sasuke didn't pull it away.)

"I'm getting there," he said softly. "I think. Um…"

He looked up. Sasuke's hand loosened—it trailed down, behind Naruto's ear, to his chin, his neck, his shoulder, his arm...Naruto's gaze didn't waver and Sasuke found himself just...tired. Tired of fighting this.

Surely, Naruto knew by now.

Surely, Naruto knew.

"Oh, fuck this," Naruto breathed, and then his lips were on Sasuke's. Sasuke wrapped his arms around him and thought _finally_. Finally, finally, finally—every second near Naruto had felt like torture; Sasuke had held this ache in his chest for _years_ and it lived, it still lived, with only moments like these to ease it—

Sasuke tumbled back, and Naruto crawled over him.

It was a terrible comfort. A heartbreaking warmth—having Naruto this close. It was brutal in the way it ripped Sasuke apart and wove him back together—Naruto's hands slipped under his shirt and slid up his torso, spread wide and stuck tight, gripping to him as if there wasn't an inch Naruto wanted to miss—

Sasuke shoved a hand in between them. And Naruto gasped, then—breaking the kiss three times in trembling succession, as Sasuke slipped his hand past Naruto's clothes and gripped him hard, pressing Naruto's erection against the bulge of Sasuke's pants, raising his own hips for more, Naruto's elbows buckled and he bit his moan into Sasuke's neck—

_Knock, knock, knock._

They froze.

"Naruto?" came a voice, muffled by the door— "Are you in there?"

Naruto breathed out a sheepish laugh.

"Um," he called back, swallowing, "yeah."

Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto's pants.

"Do you mind if you—" the voice went on—

"Go back to your admirers," Sasuke muttered, scanning Naruto's sheepish, hesitant face.

"But I—" Naruto started—

"Go," Sasuke told him. "I'll be here."

Naruto swallowed, his eyes darting down to Sasuke's lips one last time.

"Promise?"

Those blue eyes met his, and Sasuke wondered if Naruto had any idea what they were really capable of.

"I promise."

* * *

The thirteenth time it happened, they were sober.

It was the next morning, and Sasuke had forced himself out into several more hours of socialization until they had drained every last drop of energy from him. Naruto had lit up the moment he'd come back, though, so Sasuke—

Sasuke had really had no choice, had he?

He let out a sigh, scanning the mess across their living room table. He'd made it about a third of the way into cleaning before the fatigue had finally caught up to him. He'd settled for resting—if only for a moment—with a cool glass of water pressed to his temple.

At least everyone was gone, now.

Sasuke let his eyes close, sinking into the cool feeling. Maybe he ought to have just kept sleeping. But he'd heard Naruto moving outside, and even the smallest motion he'd made had had Sasuke wide awake…

A glass clattered on the table, and Sasuke's eyes opened.

Beer. A full bottle of beer, that Naruto had set down right in front of him. Closed, thankfully, but—

"Ugh," he said, staring at it, "why? Don't open that."

"I dunno," Naruto said, plopping himself beside Sasuke, "it's like we need it or something."

Sasuke's mouth opened and closed.

Naruto ducked his head, running a nervous hand over the back of his neck before he sat back up.

"I—" he started, "we—"

His voice cut off, and he ducked his head back down with tight, unhappy lips. The look of a man the words just wouldn't come to.

Sasuke could certainly empathize.

"It's a convenient excuse," Sasuke said softly, and Naruto's head jerked up.

"Is that what you—after the fifth time, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's lips twitched.

"Not for me," he answered, and Naruto was struck silent.

Sasuke pulled his feet back, but didn't leave. He was too tired to stand. Too tired to run, too tired to fight. This was a truth too strong to fight, anyway.

He'd certainly tried.

"I don't mind," Sasuke started slowly, looking at the imperfection in the wall behind the TV—an attempt to cover a stain, and all white paints were not, apparently, created equal— "if it's only physical. For you."

"If it's—"

"Don't tell me if it is."

It was a snap—a panicked response that had left Sasuke's lips before he'd even had the chance to—

"Please," he added, after a moment, the emotion in his chest weighing it down so heavily that Sasuke felt as if he was holding his breath— "it's...better if you don't say anything. Either way."

"Fuck that," Naruto snapped, and Sasuke's head jerked up just in time to see Naruto's wide, angry eyes— "I've been in love with you for _years_."

Sasuke's hand slipped off the armrest.

"What?"

"Sas—are you serious? I thought you knew. Fucking hell, I thought you knew—didn't you read—I thought you didn't block me!"

"I didn't—"

"Then what the hell?! Don't tell me I was actually fucking subtle for once—"

"You hated me."

Naruto jerked back.

"I never hated you," he said, staring. "I was pissed as hell, but I—I could never hate you."

Naruto let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair.

"Why d'you think I was—I was so—if anything, I was just fucking jealous about Sakura. You ghosted the shit outta me, but you talked to her—like," he let out a thick, hurting breath, "like all the time. Um—"

"I didn't—"

"You did. I'd ask her about you, and she'd know you were okay. Don't—please don't lie to me about—"

Sasuke snatched his phone off the table and shoved it under Naruto's nose.

"Scroll up. I've barely spoken to her since."

He had Naruto for that, nowadays. The girl had always been closer to him, anyway, and she'd known full well why Sasuke was contacting her. It took Naruto about ten seconds to hit the last message before he'd drunkenly stumbled onto Naruto's doorstep—begging for his address in something that Sasuke wasn't sure could be called a sentence. The messages before that were all the same—

A single question mark.

He'd send another one if she didn't supply him with enough. She tended to, though, alongside a heavy dose of guilt—

' _He's okay,'_ said the one Naruto was currently reading. _'He passed his psych midterm. He's pretty happy about that. He kept saying he was going to fail. I've been trying to convince him otherwise, but I'm pretty sure there's only one person he'll believe it from.'_

And then, a moment later—

' _You really won't talk to him?'_

Sasuke hadn't replied. They were all some variation of that, really. But it was enough for Sasuke to know that Naruto was alright, and even doing well, on some days—

"You fucking asshole," Naruto breathed, wiping something from his face, "why didn't you—you could've just—lurked my Facebook or something—"

"I did," Sasuke said, staring at the wall again. "You automatically friend anyone who asks. Even ones that don't even have a display picture. Moron."

Naruto stared at him.

Sasuke, with a bravery given only to him by the words still ringing through his head, met his eye.

"This whole time?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke—and Sasuke—

Naruto launched himself into Sasuke's arms.

"You _ass_ ," he said, clutching Sasuke to him with a grip only rivalled by Sasuke's— "you fucking asshole, you've been in love with me this whole—"

Naruto pulled back, his eyes wide and red-rimmed—

"When?" he asked, clutching Sasuke's shirt. "Tell me when."

Sasuke breathed in.

"You don't remember," he said softly. "I don't think you meant to. When we were in high school, at that party you were too drunk at—"

"I remember," Naruto said. "I remembered the whole time, but you never fucking _said_ anything, and then you kissed me when you thought I was sleeping, and then you—"

"You were awake?!"

"Of course I was awake! You kissed me!"

"You kissed me first!"

Naruto barked out a laugh, ducking down to press his forehead to Sasuke's neck.

"Yeah," he said, his voice muffled and breathless. "Please tell me I can do it again."

He pulled back, and Sasuke took in every inch of his dazzling, brilliant smile—

"Please do it again," he breathed, and then that smile finally, finally, finally pressed to his. In a brilliant, broken, laughing kiss—filled with disbelief and exhilaration, and a new form of dizziness Sasuke hadn't known he could feel—was he dreaming? He must be. He must be dreaming. It was impossible, this was impossible, this—

Naruto broke the kiss and settled, breathing heavy, into the nook of Sasuke's neck.

"I'm gonna start crying now," he said. "Don't be offended."

Sasuke breathed out a small laugh and tightened his grip.

"Given that our first kiss made you vomit," he muttered, "I'm not sure how to take that."

Naruto pulled back with a laugh, slapping at Sasuke's shoulder. His eyes were red-rimmed and awfully watery, but the smile on his face made up for it a thousand times—

"You ass! You know it wasn't that."

Sasuke's smile widened.

"One can never be sure," he said, and Naruto punched a soft fist into him again.

"Asshole," he said, ducking forwards again. "You ass. I'm—you—"

Naruto swallowed, cutting himself off in a breathless laugh. Sasuke found himself feeling somewhere similar, staring at Naruto in some sort of awe—

"Moron," he said, brushing some of Naruto's hair back.

Naruto caught his hand before it could go.

"I can't believe you didn't know."

Sasuke breathed out. Him. Him? How could he have known? How could he have let himself believe even anything close? Naruto was built out of everything good in the world and Sasuke was blessed to even walk at his side, let alone—

"Say it again."

Naruto's smile widened.

"Sasuke," he said, eyes brilliant and earnest and Sasuke's heart _swelled_ —

"I'm in love with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's Sasuke's version of the story :) What did you think? Did you read Naruto's yet? Let me know!
> 
> See you in a sec,  
> \- Kinomi


	2. Naruto's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter two! Did you read Sasuke's yet? Are you starting with Naruto's? Are you only reading one of them? Let me know!

The first time it happened, they were still in high school. Naruto was walking on air—and tripping on it, too, so it was a damn good thing he had Sasuke to catch him. It was his first party though! His first _real_ one, and it felt so fucking good to just—just be there. Be surrounded by people. And everybody knew his name. Three people had hugged him when they saw him. Like _seven_ had mixed him a drink, and for once in his entire goddamn life he actually needed a break from it all—

"Whew," he sighed as the cool air hit him, "okay. That's better."

It had been fucking _sweltering_ in there. But—

"That's _freezing_ ," Sasuke said, but he followed him anyway. "You're insane."

"You're insane!" Naruto laughed, spinning around. "I figured you'd love it out here. Look!"

He spread his arms out and spun around again, waving at the entire nothing around them—

"Not a person in sight!"

"I can see one person," Sasuke deadpanned, and Naruto—

"Whoa—"

" _Moron_ ," he heard Sasuke snap, and he was immediately righted again. It was like the fiftieth time Sasuke had had to catch him like that...he kept getting so light-headed...

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, swaying. "I'm okay. Whew. M'dizzy."

He laughed, looking up at a Sasuke that narrowed his eyes in response. The smile played at his lips, though—that look where Sasuke just couldn't seem to stay mad no matter what Naruto had managed to pull off that time. And this, actually, was one of those things—Sasuke had been his ride and probably the reason for his invite, and he hadn't really complained about any of it yet. Naruto knew he had to kinda hate this though.

Sasuke's eyes slid from him to glare down at the floor, and the smile that had almost been there vanished completely.

"Aw," he said, scanning Sasuke's face, "damn. Still hate it, huh?"

Sasuke looked up.

"What?"

"You—" Naruto waved a hand around until it finally made it to his hair. "I dunno. Thought you might have fun. M'sorry for dragging you here. Wanna go?"

"What are you talking about? This is fine."

Naruto laughed. Yeah _right_.

"You look grumpy as fuck," he told him. "Wanna go?"

"I'm having a perfectly grand time watching you make an utter fool of yourself," Sasuke said, crossing his arms and doing that raised-chin thing where he tried to be all high and mighty and shit— "Please, continue."

Naruto dissolved into giggles. He looked so fucking _weird_ when he—

"Y'know, when you wanna be 'specially assholish, you start talking _exactly_ like Itachi—"

Sasuke swatted him over the head.

"You're an idiot," he said, as Naruto continued to laugh, "and I thought you came here to socialize. Stop wasting your time with me."

"I've already _socialized_ , asshole," Naruto retaliated, shoving his face right back into the asshole's. "Don't tell me what to do."

Sasuke shoved him away, and Naruto laughed, swaying back until he hit the wall of the building behind them. It was nice and cool out here, and this was as good a place as any—

"Are you—are you sitting? It's below zero out here!"

"I wanna sit," Naruto said. "Fuck off. Come sit beside me."

Sasuke huffed out a breath, as if the very idea offended him—but as soon as Naruto looked up again, he was already sitting down.

Stupid stubborn asshole.

"Thanks," Naruto said, squashing his face against his knee so he could keep staring at Sasuke, "I feel weird."

"You are weird," Sasuke responded immediately, not looking back. "How so?"

"Mm, I dunno. Just weird." He sat up again, letting the back of his head hit the brick as he looked at the trees. It was pretty damn dark, now... "Is Itachi picking you up after this?"

"He's picking you up too, moron."

Huh?

"Wh—huh?"

Sasuke stared at him.

"What?" he asked. "Did you think I would just leave you stranded here? He drove us."

"Yeah, but—I don't—it's—um." Naruto jerked his head away, feeling—feeling—uncomfortable. Awkward. It wasn't like Sasuke didn't _know_ , but—

"My—house gets, um, locked. At ten."

Sasuke stiffened beside him. Naruto took another sip of his drink—and then another, just for the hell of it. It numbed him to how stupid of a decision this was, and he was grateful for it. He just didn't want to care anymore. He just...

"They lock you out."

Naruto didn't reply.

Sasuke jerked, and Naruto's head snapped back to him.

"What was your plan?" he asked, staring Naruto down— "To sleep on the street? Hide in the trees? What—"

"I didn't have one," Naruto snapped back, and Sasuke was silent. "I didn't—whatever. It doesn't matter. S'too late now."

Whatever. What _ever_ , what did it matter? He'd been out alone at night before. Never _drunk_ , but who fucking cared anyway—

Sasuke snatched the cup out of his hand.

"...My window unlocks from the outside."

"Your—huh?"

"My window can be unlocked from the outside," Sasuke said again. "It's broken. I haven't bothered fixing it. If you push it up in the right way, the whole thing comes free."

"Sas—"

"And tonight you're staying over anyway."

Naruto's brain stopped.

Sasuke leaned back against the brick and stared firmly at the trees.

"...Stupid," he added, and Naruto—Naruto—Naruto—

His world spun around him.

"...Whoa," he breathed out, staring down at the sidewalk. His eyes were burning and his throat was thick, and he felt so— "I think—I—uh—"

He laughed, and it cracked down the middle—

"You've had enough to drink," Sasuke said, swiping Naruto's cup away from him. Away from the ground where Sasuke had put it, and Naruto—Naruto didn't fight it, but he did turn away, because he was pretty fucking sure he was about to start crying and Sasuke had delt with enough shit tonight without adding—

"Yeah," Naruto said, willing himself to keep it together, _begging_ himself to keep it together— "yeah, um. Want the rest of this?"

"If it means you'll have some water," Sasuke said, nudging his own cup at Naruto, "I'll drink whatever you want."

Naruto laughed.

"You're gonna regret saying that," he said, taking it. It gave him something convenient to hide his face in, anyway.

"I might," Sasuke replied, pausing before he brought the drink any closer— "This isn't the drink that Kiba mixed, is it?"

Naruto coughed out a laugh.

"No! No," he said, falling back against Sasuke, "I had to pour that shit out. Who mixes _beer_ with _tequila_?"

"An idiot," he said. "What am I about to drink?"

"Uhhhh," Naruto said, trying to think, "uh. Um. Sakura gave it to me?"

"Incredible."

"Sas—!" Naruto laughed, nudging into him again. "It's fine! S'not bad. Try it."

Sasuke made a face.

"Trrrryyyy iiiiiitttt," Naruto whined, digging the back of his head into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke grunted in pain and shoved his arm behind Naruto's back, shifting them both so Naruto sat way more comfortably.

Naruto giggled. Sasuke dealt with so much of his shit.

"Thanks. S'comfy," he said, falling further into Sasuke's grip. "Where's—um—"

"Your water is by your foot. Don't kick it."

"Yeah, yeah, I—I won't. You gonna drink my drink or do I gotta?"

Sasuke sighed, and stared Naruto down as he lifted it to his lips.

"Mm," he deadpanned, unblinking, "tastes like shit."

Naruto dissolved into laughter.

"It's not that bad! It—"

"There is _syrup_ in my mouth."

"Aw, crap," Naruto said, sitting up. "I forgot you hate sweet stuff. I—you don't have to drink that, here, gimmie—"

"I will give you absolutely nothing," Sasuke said, pulling the cup _juuust_ out of his reach. "Don't— _moron_ , you—"

Naruto crawled over him, snatched the cup out of Sasuke's hand, and downed the whole thing.

"There!" Naruto announced, waving the empty cup right in Sasuke's stupid perfect face. It shook the rest of him, too, which— "Whoa—"

Sasuke caught him by the wrists, and Naruto grinned.

"Gotcha," he said, shoving his victory into Sasuke's face. He was a sore winner and Sasuke _knew_ it. Sasuke knew him—it was nuts how well Sasuke knew him. And liked him. Let him be this close and not push him away and _all_ of that just because Naruto was Naruto? That was fucking nuts. Sasuke was such an—

"Idiot," Sasuke whispered, and Naruto's grin widened. Sasuke was even dumber than he was. Naruto _obviously_ had the better end of the deal here. He'd gotten away with fuckin' everything. And meanwhile Mr. Perfect down underneath him just took care of him and laughed at him and looked up at him with eyes that glittered with so much more than the night sky—

Sasuke's grip on him loosened, and Naruto leaned down.

His world was spinning again. His world was _really_ spinning—he kissed Sasuke and all he could think about was how good it felt, how right it felt, how—why hadn't they done this sooner? He should kiss Sasuke everyday. Sasuke's lips were soft and warm and this was the fucking _best_ , it made him so light-headed he thought he'd just fall right over—so dizzy—so—

Wait.

Wait, no—

He was gonna be sick.

Naruto wrenched himself away.

* * *

The second time it happened, Naruto was...in a bit of a situation. Not a _bad_ one—not any worse than he'd been before, but not...great. He didn't have his phone, or his wallet, and so he had to hope to god that Sasuke was around and hopefully awake, or else he was...kind of screwed. And in a place to make a lot of bad decisions. At least when Sasuke was around, he tended to mitigate Naruto's stupider ones and actually manage to make his good ones better, so—

If he was gonna do any stupid shit, better that he be around Sasuke anyway.

Case in point—in retrospect, snatching the vodka from his foster parents' porch was a decent "fuck you" after tonight's screaming match, but it was also sketchy as fuck for a teenager to be jogging down the street in just his pajamas with a full bottle of liquor and fuck all else—

He'd made it here, though. He'd made it to the bit by Sasuke's window where he could sneak from ledge to ledge until he could finally shove it open. He tucked the alcohol under his arm and reached up, figuring a splinter was the least of his worries at this point—

There.

Okay, made it to the window, hadn't dropped the alcohol yet. He heaved up, and then _pushed_ —

_Crash._

Sasuke sprung up from the bed, eyes wide—

"Jesus fucking Christ," Sasuke said, and Naruto froze. "Do you not believe in _texting_?"

"I—" Naruto said, thinking—shit. Shit, Sasuke didn't want him here. Of course he didn't—he could go back out, right? He could—he could find somewhere else—

"I—I don't have my phone. Um. Sorry, I—"

He ducked back, glancing at his path back down—

"Your feet are bare," Sasuke said, staring, "Naruto—it's barely even spring, what the fuck are you—get inside, get—"

Sasuke pulled him in. Naruto stumbled over the ledge, his relief making him nearly miss the bottle as it slipped. Sasuke barely noticed though, Sasuke was pulling him back, shoving him onto the bed, into a bunch of—blankets? Was he cold? He didn't...

"Sorry," Naruto said. Sasuke was kinda freaked out and Naruto hated doing this to him, but Sasuke only gave him a _look_ and pulled the blankets tighter. He was nearly fully wrapped, now—

"Um. No, hang on, I brought—"

He pulled out the vodka and held it out to Sasuke, ducking his head a little.

"Alcohol again?" Sasuke muttered, snatching the bottle from him. "I thought you learned your lesson."

"Yeah, well, I—" Naruto let out a small, hesitant laugh. "I—I snatched it as revenge. They keep 'em out on the porch in winter. Um. I don't have much else to offer you, though, I—"

"Don't offer me anything," Sasuke said, and Naruto breathed in as he pressed one of Naruto's hands between his, um, really soft and warm own— "You're freezing."

"I'm okay," Naruto responded, and Sasuke turned his glare on him. Shit, yeah, Sasuke hated it when he said that, but he—

"Don't," he started, "um. Don't call anyone, okay? It's better if I—I'm moving out next month, and I just...I just want to go."

Sasuke breathed out.

"I just want to go."

Sasuke had offered—more than once—to call someone. Naruto could tell he really wanted to. And it had never worked before, but maybe it would, if Sasuke made the call, but then—

But then Naruto would have to leave. What if he had to leave? What if he never saw Sasuke again? He—

"Fine," Sasuke said, and Naruto could tell he hated that word, too. He picked up Naruto's other hand, and Naruto couldn't help but watch the way he held it... "But you should just start coming here straight from school."

Naruto barked out a laugh.

"Yeah," he bit out, rolling his eyes. "Itachi'd love that."

"Itachi wouldn't mind."

Naruto humoured him with a smile, but didn't give him a real reply. Itachi didn't want him here. Nobody _really_ wanted him around...or, well—nobody but Sasuke. Sasuke was weird. Sasuke was the weirdest guy he knew. Sasuke got so _nuts_ about this sometimes—he was staring down at the blanket like he was trying to burn a hole right through it—

"Relax," Naruto laughed. "It's not that bad. I coulda snuck back in and I didn't."

"Don't blame yourself," Sasuke snapped, and Naruto laughed at him again.

"You get all like," he wiggled forwards, "puffed up when you're mad. Is that why your hair gets so spiky? Like a chicken—"

"You're on your own," Sasuke muttered, throwing the blankets back over him.

"Sure I am," Naruto shot back, and Sasuke stiffened at being called out. Naruto's grin faltered after another second, though—

"Um—sorry to wake you though. I figured—I thought, since it was Friday, we could—"

"We can," Sasuke said. "I'll...grab us some glasses."

Sasuke looked back at him, and Naruto threw him a smile. He slipped out of the room a second later.

Naruto huddled the blankets closer to himself.

His feet were...kinda cold, now that he was noticing it. And his skin felt a little chilled too. He hadn't really realized—although Sasuke definitely had. Maybe it had been a dumb idea—probably, it was a dumb idea. He'd figured out how to fuck with his own window enough to make it do the thing Sasuke's did, so it would have been easy enough to sneak back in.

What was the point, though? What was waiting for him back there? A slap over the head and some stupid bullshit about disrespecting authority? As if Naruto had ever respected any of their authority anyway—

Anyway.

_Anyway_.

It was useless to think about any of that. And he was lucky as fuck, at the end of it all. Sasuke had been—

The door opened, and Naruto looked up.

Sasuke kicked the door shut behind him—gently, and with a grace Naruto was pretty sure he couldn't replicate. He slipped the two full glasses onto the table and shoved something into Naruto's hand.

"Wha—"

"From Itachi."

Naruto stared at his hand. Had Sasuke—Sasuke had—Sasuke had talked to him? Itachi was okay with it? There was a fucking _key_ in his hand and it had taken Sasuke like thirty fucking seconds to get it for him—

"I'm debating sewing it into your hair," Sasuke continued, moving on to the vodka, "considering your incredible ability to misplace things."

He poured them both a glass, not looking back—and Naruto prayed that his laugh didn't sound as broken as he felt. He'd—yeah. He'd have to take—he'd have to be really careful with this. He…

"I—" he started, "no, I'll—"

Sasuke looked back at him, but Naruto already had an idea. He'd made this stupid anklet thing weeks ago—it bugged him more days than not, and this was a way better use for the string anyway.

He poured the beads in front of him, and started on trying to thread the string through the small hole in the key.

"Moron," Sasuke muttered, scooping the beads and putting them—somewhere Naruto didn't see. Couldn't see. His eyes were getting real fucking blurry, and his hands were shaking, and he—he kept swallowing, but this lump in his throat wouldn't—

Sasuke's hands slipped up his, and gently took the string, and the key.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, as Sasuke wove it through.

"You only ever apologize for stupid things," Sasuke said. "Where do you want this?"

"Um. Around my neck?"

"Lean down."

Naruto dutifully bowed his head, closing his eyes and feeling the key fall against his chest. Feeling Sasuke's hands tying it there. It felt—it felt like something important. Something vital, like Naruto had somehow—somehow really earned a place, somewhere, and he—he really—

"Done."

Sasuke pulled back, and Naruto clutched the key in his hand.

"Thanks," Naruto whispered, not letting go. He automatically took the drink that Sasuke passed him, not quite registering what it was until—

Sasuke spluttered and coughed.

"This is disgusting," he hacked out, shoving it back onto the table.

"It's _straight_ ," Naruto said, the smile fighting its way onto his face against all fucking odds. "Most people mix it with some _juice_ or something—"

"I'm getting juice," Sasuke grumbled, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh. He was gone after only another second, and Naruto breathed out and shoved his drink back onto the table, just so he could shove his face into his hands properly—

The weight of it all sank into him.

He clutched the key against his chest and threw a hand over his eyes as he laid down, just trying to breathe. Just trying to screw his head back on straight. The blankets were heavy and warm and he was just—just buried under all of the fucking emotion of tonight. He—

He jumped. When had Sasuke come back, he—shit, he couldn't let him see—

"Sorry," he mumbled, hiding in all of the blankets Sasuke had heaved at him, "I didn't—m'more tired than I realized. Sorry, I'll—"

He should get up. Right? It wasn't fair to—

"Stay down," Sasuke said, and Naruto stilled. "Go to sleep, moron."

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at him. He—really?

"You sure?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"No," he deadpanned. "I demand that you wake up right now. Fuck your needs."

Naruto laughed.

"Okay, 'kay—dick," he mumbled, and then he closed his eyes again. He heard Sasuke shift around the room, opening some drawers and putting something on the floor. He tried not to move in answer to it, though—better that Sasuke think he was just tired, right? That was fine. He just...

He couldn't even begin to sort any of this out, most days—as soon as Naruto thought he'd fixed his head, Sasuke would do something incredible and amazing and Naruto's heart would jump into his throat and Naruto—and Naruto—

And the last time Naruto had been drunk, he'd done something about it.

Fucking hell.

Sasuke hadn't said a word. Thank _fuck_ Sasuke hadn't said a word. Naruto didn't even know how he'd respond. How do you tell your best friend that you'd just—just really wanted to kiss them? Right in that moment? How were you supposed to tell him that you'd been having more moments, like that, recently? Like, a lot of them? Like, every fucking time you looked into his eyes, a lot of them?

Naruto breathed out, and hoped it sounded deep enough.

He didn't know what the hell he'd done to make Sasuke give him so much leeway, but it was...god, it felt so good. He barely even had to worry around Sasuke. He never had to shut himself up or laugh quieter or stop running around because he was irritating the fucking shit out of everyone around him—

If anything, it was almost like Sasuke had...liked being irritated. 'Course, Naruto had kind of...focused on him. At first. He hadn't meant to. But the guy had gone from being all cocky and smug to just—just—barely anything at all, and Naruto had—he'd—

He'd recognized it. He knew that feeling. Where you were just kind of there, and you were just kind of functioning, but you weren't really alive. You couldn't really feel anything. And, more than any other time Sasuke had kicked his ass in whatever shit they'd done in gym class—

It had driven Naruto crazy.

And he nearly hadn't broken through it—he really nearly hadn't. He didn't know what it was that had finally driven Sasuke over the edge, but Naruto had never been so fucking happy to be punched in the nose.

He hadn't been so happy a couple days later, but whatever. Worth it in the end, no matter the bruises.

Naruto rolled over, letting out a small noise as he flopped his hand over—over Sasuke. Shit. He'd forgotten Sasuke was—was Sasuke in the bed next to him? He hadn't even felt him sit down. But Sasuke didn't—

Oh.

He did move. He moved down—once, and then a little more. Naruto didn't let himself move, though—he was asleep. Right? He was supposed to be asleep.

Sasuke let out a breath, and Naruto heard a small noise—like a glass being put down. Oh—good, actually. Good that one of them had been able to relax right now—Naruto's own head was a mess. He—god, some days he just really wanted to know what the hell made it worth it for Sasuke. Worth it to have Naruto here. Worth it for him to want Naruto to _stay_ here. And it was usually on those days—those stupid days—where Naruto would find himself breathless and confused and staring at Sasuke's stupid pretty mouth—

Something touched his face—Sasuke's hand, tucking a bit of his hair behind his ear. Naruto held his breath, because that—that felt—really warm, and really soft, and really intimate, and you know what? That was Sasuke's breath on his face. Okay. _Okay_ , okay, Sasuke was real close, Sasuke was really fucking close to him. He—

He pressed his lips to Naruto's.

Naruto's brain screeched to a halt. It was a good thing, in the end, because he didn't even move—didn't even twitch, didn't even _breathe_ until he felt Sasuke move, felt him twist, rolling away to firmly face the wall—

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Sasuke's back.

He stayed that way for the rest of the night.

* * *

The third time it happened, they were well into university. Well, Naruto was. He didn't know about Sasuke. He didn't know a damn _thing_ about Sasuke. Sakura did, though. _Sakura_ , of all fucking people, somehow did.

Not that Naruto was bitter.

It was a damn good thing he liked her so much, though. He was stupid enough to let something like this get the best of him, he knew. In his worst moments, he didn't know what the hell had gotten into Sasuke.

In his better ones, he rolled his eyes at himself and just went to the fucking party Sakura was begging him to go to. It wasn't her fault he was an asshole. He wasn't going to _be_ here, anyway. Some other people from high school were, though—which actually might be fun, 'cause he hadn't seen Kiba in ages. Ino, too, honestly—although Sakura saw her all the time. Naruto ducked around the corner, searching for a pink head of hair—

He found something else, instead.

Naruto's heart fell onto the floor. He picked it back up, and moved forwards—straight to the fucking asshole who looked like he'd just seen a ghost—

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes went wide, and Naruto let out his best fake laugh, grabbing him by the hand to pull him into a one-armed hug. Like he'd do to anyone else, and that was all Sasuke was now, wasn't it?

Anyone else.

"Good to see you, man," Naruto said, clapping him on the shoulder. He let his smile stay firm as his took in every part of him—his hair was longer, his face somehow even fucking prettier, and he'd gone and gotten a tattoo on his neck. His eyes hadn't aged a goddamn day and Naruto suddenly, completely, devastatingly remembered how easy it had been to just stare into them—

He let go, and he...let himself go. Let himself go by Sasuke, let himself not turn around. There was no point in making a scene here. There was... _god_ , he had a million fucking things to say to Sasuke and that hadn't been fucking any of them—

"Oh—whoa, Kiba! No way!"

The guy let out a holler and launched himself at Naruto, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh. The good thing was his mouth moved at a mile a minute, especially when he got Lee involved, which let Naruto's mind (and his eyes) drift—

Sasuke had moved. His head was down, and he was pushing his way through the crowd. He seemed to reconsider something, though, because he stopped in place—scowl as fierce as Naruto had always remembered it—and spun on his heel. Naruto followed him through the crowd, again, before catching someone's eyes who had apparently been watching _him_ —

Sakura raised her eyebrows and jerked her head towards Sasuke.

Naruto...gently shook his head, and turned away.

" _Anyway_ , what I'm saying is," Kiba was saying, "you couldn't'a fuckin' hinted that she wasn't into dudes? I looked like a goddamn moron—"

"You look like that anyway," Neji muttered, and Naruto ducked his head in a laugh.

"You could have simply asked her," Shino offered, and Kiba—

"Listen!" he yelled. "None of this helps me now! You fuckers could have helped me—"

Naruto laughed even harder, using it as an excuse to look around the room again. No luck, though—maybe Sasuke had gone home…

"Listen," said a voice—oh, Sakura—peeking her head in the middle of them, "we're getting a bunch of people and going into the living room. C'mon."

"What are we doing?"

"I dunno—truth or dare or something—"

Kiba laughed, and Naruto let himself be pulled along.

"Truth or dare? Guess we're all from high school anyway—"

Naruto laughed and shook his head, taking the drink that Sakura surreptitiously passed him. Fuck it. He could have fun, right? Just—just focus on everybody else. He'd corner Sakura later and figure out what the hell she'd been up to, but—he—

He didn't know.

He moved almost automatically, hopping onto a sofa. Somebody said something that everybody laughed at, so Naruto laughed too, but he didn't really hear any of it at all...he—

He was—he was weirdly relieved. That wasn't totally right, but it was a big chunk of it. It was one thing for Sakura to be telling him that Sasuke was alive and probably doing fine, but it was an entire fucking other to be slammed face-first with the fact. And it hurt—god, of course it fucking hurt, but—

But a big part of Naruto had just been...worried. It had been completely unlike him. Completely out of the blue. And Naruto's first thought, as Sasuke had grown quieter and quieter and then completely silent, was that something had happened to him.

He supposed something had. He'd become a big old fucking prick.

Whatever, though. He was sure Sasuke had his reasons. Naruto didn't need to know what they were. Sakura switched Naruto's empty glass for another full one and it made him realize just how fast he'd been—

"—ruto!"

"Huh?" he said, snapping back into reality.

"Truth or dare?"

"Uh," Naruto said, "...dare."

Why not? He'd never had any pride anyway.

"Ooh," Sakura said, leaning back, "kiss the next person who walks in."

Somebody walked in, and Naruto—

Oh.

Sasuke stared at him.

Naruto stared right back.

"Okay," he said, as if it was nothing.

Fucking asshole looked like he'd seen another ghost. Naruto kept giving him heart attacks today, he guessed—but fair was only fair, right? He put his drink down and stepped around the table—

"What?" Sasuke asked, and it was the first time Naruto had heard his voice in _years_.

It set his blood on fire.

"Can't go back on my word," Naruto said, moving until they stood face to face, "can I—"

He met Sasuke's eyes.

"—Sasuke?

Sasuke didn't move.

Naruto balled his shirt in his fist and wrenched him forwards.

_Fuck you,_ Naruto thought, shoving his tongue into Sasuke's mouth. _Fuck_ him for doing this to Naruto. For shoving himself into Naruto's life and making him easily the most important person to have ever met his eye and then—and then just ripping himself away, like he'd ripped a hole in Naruto's chest. And for kissing him, _twice_ , for fucking kissing him twice and never bringing it the fuck up, _fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you—_

Naruto ripped himself away.

In the moment their eyes met, Naruto liked to think he saw an apology. Naruto liked to think he saw sadness, and desire, and even some longing in there somewhere—

But no.

Naruto knew better than to believe tricks of the light.

"How was that?" he asked, turning around. Everybody cheered, though, so that was something. He did his best to laugh it all off and not give Sakura a single reason to look him in the eye—

By the time he sat back down, Sasuke was gone.

* * *

The fourth time it happened, Naruto was at home.

Or, well, the closest he had come to home for a very long time. After living with a whole bunch of mismatched roommates, he'd tried...going it alone, for once. His own place. His own apartment. He even managed to pay his own fucking rent.

Imagine that.

He breathed out, giving his little lemon tree a few more spritzes with the spray bottle. He'd come to kind of love it here. Not at first, but after a while, it...had grown on him. He'd been forced to deal with all his own thoughts, for once. People around him were always the best kind of distraction, and he didn't have that here.

He had to listen to himself.

And he felt better about it all. Not to mention he had some therapy covered through school—that had been a fucking brilliant discovery—but he'd figured a lot of stuff out on his own, too.

And one of the things he'd figured out was that he...really needed to stop texting Sasuke. He was like a devastated, obsessive ex. Constantly messaging all sorts of bullshit and never getting a reply. At the time, he'd thought that he couldn't possible give up on their friendship, but now—

Well, now, he still thought that.

He swallowed, feeling the weight of the key he still wore around his neck.

But it was clear the texts weren't working. It had helped him get some of his thoughts out, though—but Sasuke had blocked him years ago, and Naruto had other avenues for that now. There were better ways to...deal with all of this.

Not that he was really sure he ever would. He hadn't seen Sasuke since that party, and Sakura had...really nothing for him. He sighed, putting the spray bottle down.

What now? He'd procrastinated in every "productive" way he could think of. He _really_ didn't want to read those chapters today, though…

_Knock_.

Huh?

_Kno—knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock—_

"Whoa," Naruto said, sliding around his wall, "yeah, yeah, I'm comi—"

He wrenched the door open, and froze.

Sasuke stumbled forwards and kissed him.

For a moment, Naruto stayed frozen. Sasuke's lips were soft and warm and for a second—for one insane, dizzying second—Naruto thought about just closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around him and saying fuck the consequences and fuck Sasuke's reasons—

But then it passed, and Naruto shoved him back.

"Whoa," he breathed out, keeping Sasuke back, "whoa, whoa—what the hell? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke blinked at him, and didn't reply. He did _sway_ a little in place, though, and Naruto's confusion skyrocketed—he slipped the door shut behind Sasuke and pulled back—

"How did you—how did you find this place?"

"...Sakura told me," Sasuke mumbled, and it sounded...slurred? "I...shouldn't be here."

He turned around, and Naruto panicked.

"What? No! No—Sasuke, you—will you stop trying to leave!"

Naruto grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, and Sasuke _spun_ —a little more than he should have, and Naruto—

"What are you—are you drunk?"

Sasuke blinked in reply, and Naruto held him steady. He let go a moment later, though—he shouldn't be touching Sasuke. Sasuke was a stranger, by now—

"Asshole," Naruto said, and it came out as a whisper. "...Just—let me get you some water. Sakura told you to come here?"

"No," Sasuke said, and Naruto stared at him. But if Sakura hadn't—hadn't told him to...and Sasuke had—had asked her—

Naruto let out a breath and turned off the tap. His hopes flew sky high at the tiniest fucking thing.

"Here," Naruto said, pushing the glass of water into his hand.

"Thank you," Sasuke said, squinting at him—and then at the glass. And back to him—Naruto's lips twitched as Sasuke stared at him again— "You poison this?"

"I think you poisoned yourself enough already," Naruto said, and the smile was automatic. Naruto tore it off his face, though, because—hell. He was owed an explanation. By now.

Surely Sasuke knew that.

"I…" Sasuke started, his eyes darting all over Naruto's face. All over his body, too, and Naruto didn't know what it was that he found so interesting, but—

"You're still wearing the key," Sasuke said, his eyes wide.

Shit.

Naruto's hand flinched up to his neck.

"That—it's—that doesn't matter. It's useless now," he said, stepping back. "Why are you here? I stopped texting you months ago."

"I know," Sasuke said, and Naruto immediately stared at him again. How could Sasuke possibly know that? Unless he—

"You didn't block my number?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke—

Didn't reply. Sasuke stared down at the floor, holding the glass of water in his hand and swaying on the spot, as if having some sort of internal crisis—

"You look good," Sasuke whispered, scanning him with something like sadness in his eyes. "I should go."

Naruto nearly dove across the room.

"Wh—will you stop trying that!" he said, frantic. "You fucking asshole, you're here already—just tell me why you're—"

He spun Sasuke back around, and Sasuke stumbled, splashing water all over the floor.

"Sorry," Sasuke said, pushing his cup onto the table as he fell onto his knees. Naruto blinked as he immediately grabbed the paper towel, apparently deciding the water was the most important thing in the room—

"Sas—Sasuke, it's fine, stop—" Naruto pulled him back up, "just tell me why you're here."

Sasuke stared at him. And it was a heartbreaking stare, a devastating stare—a look that nearly made Naruto fall onto his knees, too—

"I wanted to see you."

God.

_God_. That couldn't be true. But he couldn't find any hint of a lie on Sasuke's face no matter how he tried—

"Okay," he said, not letting himself believe it yet, "better question. What the fuck, Sasuke?"

Sasuke flinched, but Naruto held strong.

"Why'd you leave? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sasuke breathed in.

"I," he said, pulling back just enough to make Naruto let go, "I thought you'd want me to reconsider."

Naruto reeled back. It settled into him like something cold, some sort of ice, starting from his heart and diving deep into his veins—

"Wow," he said, his voice hard. "Good to know what you actually thought of me."

That?

That was it? He thought Naruto would throw a hissy fit that they weren't going to the same school and so he'd cut him off completely? Naruto spun around and grabbed onto the doorway, suddenly feeling like he had to be anywhere but here—

"I would have," came Sasuke's voice, and Naruto stopped.

"I would have reconsidered," Sasuke said. "If you'd said anything. Like it fucking mattered what school I went to anyway. Degrees are the fucking same."

Naruto turned back around. Sasuke sat, in a small, melted pile, on the floor—staring at the tile like he just needed something to focus on. Something to stop him from crying. Something to stop him from feeling that…

Guilt.

Sasuke looked like a man filled with regret.

"Sasuke," came Naruto's voice, and Sasuke's head jerked up. "You're an idiot."

Sasuke blinked.

"I didn't care where you went. I just didn't want to lose you." And then he _had_ , which was—which was— "And it was your fucking parents'—I would have—if you had just said something, I could've—"

Naruto breathed out, waving a hand. _God_. That hadn't been it at all. He got it. He _got_ it, it all made fucking sense now—the minute Naruto had said the smallest thing, Sasuke would have changed his mind. And he'd been so stupidly terrified about letting himself do that—and betraying his family, his brother, his parents—that he hadn't—he hadn't—

He hadn't even been able to look Naruto in the eye.

Naruto stared at him now, and watched the tear slide down Sasuke's cheek.

"I'm an idiot," he whispered.

"Yeah," Naruto laughed, incredulous, "yeah. You're an idiot."

Sasuke breathed out, something coming back to his eyes—something like hope—

"Come on," Naruto said, reaching down. "You should lay down."

* * *

The fifth time it happened, Naruto was flirting. Naruto was flirting _hard_. They were at Sakura's housewarming party, they were in a _hot tub_ , and Naruto had gotten just drunk enough to convince himself that being all over Sasuke's wet, gorgeous self was the right thing to do.

"No, no, we can make room!" Ino insisted. "Everybody needs to cuddle. Come on, we're all adults here, time to cuddle—"

Naruto laughed, throwing his arm around Sasuke and dutifully shuffling closer. Sasuke shot him a _look_ as he did, but it was that little half-smile one, and Naruto knew full well that it meant Sasuke didn't mind the singlest, littlest bit.

"There we go. Drinks all good?"

"I think I've got hot tub water in mine," Naruto muttered at Sasuke, biting his lip as he immediately ducked his head to hide his smile.

" _You_ do?" he deadpanned. "You're practically in my lap."

Oh? Well, if Sasuke insisted.

Naruto wrapped his one arm around him, lifted his champagne in the air, and tucked his legs over Sasuke's shoulder.

"My hero," he sang, fluttering his eyelashes.

Sasuke shoved him into the water.

"Boys!" Sakura called. "Limits on the horseplay, please? This is a grown-up house."

Naruto shoved himself onto Sasuke's lap.

"Yes, ma'am, sorry ma'am," he said, wiggling himself back at Sasuke.

"Ugh, fuck off," Sasuke grumbled, pushing him ever so slightly. Naruto wasn't exactly _resisting_ , though, and it made him think that maybe Sasuke didn't actually—

"Okay! Okay, we all fit. Nobody move."

Well, that was that. Naruto relaxed against Sasuke's silky smooth body. Whoo, boy.

"Good. Now—everybody got some champagne?"

Naruto raised his glass, and he felt Sasuke's hand grip his waist for just a moment—

"Okay," Sakura said, floating forwards. "Thank you all. It's been a weird, crazy few years. And it's somehow managed to work out," she laughed, "in the weirdest, _craziest_ way."

She threw Ino a smile, and Naruto laughed as Ino made a point of flicking her hair back.

"And I think that's something worth celebrating," Sakura continued—

"But if any of you puke in our hot tub, you're paying for a new one," Ino interjected, and Naruto laughed again. It settled him back, a bit more, against Sasuke. He wondered if the cord around his neck—which held two keys, now—was bugging him at all...

"So—okay, whatever, no more speeches. Cheers!"

"Cheers!'

Naruto laughed, tossing a bit of his champagne back before his eyes turned to Sasuke.

"You're out," he said, leaning close to Sasuke's ear. "Share with me."

He made a point of tilting his glass towards Sasuke's mouth, and Sasuke snatched it from him before he could manage to do anything else. That suited Naruto just fine, though—it left him happily free to just lean back, and Sasuke stuck holding two empty glasses.

Huh.

Not a bad way to get them both inside, though…

Naruto looked back at him, and his smile widened. Sasuke really was _unreasonably_ good-looking. Holy hell...

"Need another drink?" Sasuke asked, as if reading his mind.

"Mm, yeah," he said, smiling. "But I don't wanna move."

Sasuke was comfy. And Sasuke was _close_ to him, and Naruto could quite happily wiggle right back and take in every inch of this touch. Not to mention there was a piece of his mind that was just a little bit convinced he'd felt just a little bit of a boner, and that had sent Naruto's mind spiralling somewhere that _really_ involved him pressing down on Sasuke…

He grinned—Sakura was saying something about how long it had taken to move all Ino's plants into the house, and Sasuke had had the exact same gripe about him, when they'd moved in together. What a day that had been, though...he still couldn't believe he really lived with Sasuke, some days...

"Mmph," Naruto sighed, letting his back stretch over the edge of the hot tub, "you don't mind this, do you?"

Best to check. And to fish for a certain kind of answer, just in case Sasuke's head was in the same place as Naruto's...

"It's fine," Sasuke said.

Hm. Not good enough.

"You're holding two empty cups," Naruto pointed out, and Sasuke's...eyes darted down to his lips.

Oh. _Oh._

Yeah, okay.

"C'mon," Naruto said, his voice low and beckoning, "let's give these people some breathing room."

He hopped out of the tub, grabbing the glasses out of Sasuke's hands before he had a chance to protest. The stone burned against his feet and he hopped his way over to the door, stopping only when Sakura shouted "towels!" at them, but he—

He turned straight into the towel that Sasuke already held for him.

Damn stupid prissy genius.

"Thanks," Naruto said, feeling like his head was in the goddamn clouds.

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto laughed, pushing his way into the house. He was still soaked, though, and he actually didn't know where anything was—

"Oh my god," Naruto laughed, "I'm getting water everywhere. Where's the bathroom? It's not thi—"

"The next one," Sasuke said, and Naruto distinctly noticed him abandon the glasses. He _also_ noticed him enter the bathroom first, pulling Naruto in afterwards, and Naruto sucked in a breath as he followed his lead—

He kicked the door shut.

Sasuke blinked at him.

That—what? Was that not what he had...

"I'm...going to get changed," Naruto said—carefully. He was about to get naked. In a room Sasuke was in. That—didn't Sasuke—

"Oh," Sasuke said, "I'll—"

Sasuke quickly scurried past him, and Naruto sank against the fucking wall. So much for _that_. They hadn't kissed since Sasuke had been hammered and apparently missing him this whole goddamn time, and Naruto had—he'd really thought that maybe—

Oh. Sasuke had stopped...moving…?

Naruto looked up.

For a moment, time stopped. Sasuke stared at Naruto and Naruto stared back at him, thinking _kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, I've given you every hint in the fucking universe, will you just kiss me alread_ —

Sasuke kissed him.

It was barely a moment of a kiss—just long enough for Naruto's world to spin him around a million times. It was barely a taste and as soon as Sasuke pulled away, Naruto was already leaning back in—

"Sorry. Sorry, I—"

"No," Naruto said, pushing forwards, "no, no, no—"

Naruto kissed him. Naruto pressed him back against the counter and kissed him, pushed their bodies together and _kissed_ him, he felt it as Sasuke moaned into his mouth— _god_ , Naruto pushed their hips together so he could _finally_ feel that delicious friction he'd been craving all night—and Sasuke, _god_ , Sasuke pulled his shorts down and pressed them together and fucking, fucking _hell_ —

Naruto grabbed ahold of their cocks and started to move. He didn't care. He _needed_ this, he'd craved this so bad, he—

"Ah—"

Sasuke gasped and Naruto thought _yes_ —he kissed harder, moved faster, drove Sasuke as crazy as Sasuke had been driving him—he didn't know what he was doing, he just knew he wanted Sasuke. _God_ , he wanted Sasuke. He wanted Sasuke so _bad_ —and Sasuke, oh god, his body was tightening—

"Sas—"

Sasuke's breath hitched.

"Oh, god, Sas—"

Sasuke's back arched—

"—s'ke, Sasuke—"

Sasuke came. He felt it in his hand and Naruto was _gone_ , he was gone too, he was—wow.

Wow.

Naruto breathed in, and in, and in, and in.

Sasuke's messy, unfocused gaze met his, and he—fuck. Wow. He was totally dizzy. Wow...

"I—" Naruto breathed out, and Sasuke breathed in—

"We should—um, get cleaned up."

"Right. Yes."

Naruto pulled back, and, um, tried to clean Sasuke off as best he could. Sasuke was quiet, but not pulling away, and that…

You know what?

That was a start.

* * *

The twelfth time it happened, Naruto was fucking desperate for it. They were at a party again—but it was Naruto's own party, in him and Sasuke's own home, for once, and—god. Sasuke had just been fucking _relentless_ tonight.

He'd been complimenting Naruto left and right. Tricking the people around him into doing the same. Bringing him plenty of drinks and reminding Naruto, over and over again, that they were celebrating _him_ , and Sasuke was very much a part of that.

Fuck.

At this point, all Naruto wanted to celebrate was every bit of Sasuke's body. Which, he...might actually get his chance to do. Sasuke had slipped off somewhere, and Naruto had checked nearly every other room in an attempt to not get his hopes up. Which left...

"Thought I'd find you in here."

Sasuke, looking as casual as could be, leaned back. He was here in his bed, lounging back with an easy, heartstopping smile—

"In my own room?" he asked, with that look that drove Naruto _crazy_. "Groundbreaking."

Naruto laughed, and Sasuke moved aside the exact amount that told Naruto he wanted him to sit down. And—well—who was he to disappoint? If Sasuke wanted Naruto to join him in bed…

Sasuke met his eye, and his lips twitched.

Naruto shuffled in a little closer, watching the way Sasuke continued to scan his face, as if lost in some part of it...

"Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, held his drink to his chest, and didn't reply.

Naruto's smile widened.

But Sasuke's gaze held strong. It held _real_ strong, it held Naruto in a way that Sasuke...usually reserved for midway through whatever situation their alcohol got them into that night. And this was all it needed, right? Alcohol, and a moment alone. Surely Sasuke knew it, too...

Sasuke finished his drink, and slid it onto his bedside table.

"You look warm," Naruto said, and Sasuke snorted.

"There's a hundred people crammed into this apartment," he drawled, leaning back. "Everyone is warm."

"There's like twenty! Not even," Naruto laughed, nudging himself closer. Sasuke huffed out a breath and shifted his legs—a movement Naruto took as an invitation to shuffle right in, apparently. Sasuke sat up, and matched the angle of Naruto's torso... _awfully_ well.

Naruto skimmed the back of his hand with his fingertips.

"There's not that many people."

"There are," Sasuke told him. "You have an obnoxious amount of friends."

Naruto ducked his head.

"An obnoxious amount of friends," Sasuke continued, watching the way his face flushed, "obnoxiously celebrating an obnoxious amount of accomplishment."

"Oh, like you're one to talk, _med school_ ," Naruto shot back, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Stupid—stupid amazing Sasuke, this is what he _meant_! This was what Sasuke had been doing all night, showering him with compliments and attention and something real fucking close to affection, and Naruto…

Naruto...just...

"I," he ducked his head down, twisting his fingers through his hair, "I didn't think I could do it."

"I knew you would," Sasuke said immediately.

Naruto breathed out a small laugh.

"'Course you did," he said, rocking back only to lean in closer. "I mean—as a kid, though. This is...I never thought I'd ever be smart enough to pull this off. I really thought I was…"

Sasuke tugged Naruto's hand away, pushing his own hand through Naruto's hair to beckon those eyes to turn back to him.

"Have you finally been convinced otherwise?"

Naruto laughed, and let himself lean right into the touch. He expected Sasuke to pull it away. In fact, he waited for it, but—

"I'm getting there," he said softly. "I think. Um…"

He met Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke's hand loosened—it trailed down, behind Naruto's ear, to his chin, his neck, his shoulder, his arm...Naruto felt every inch of it in some sort of mesmerized bliss and thought this _had_ to be an invitation. It had to be. It couldn't be a mistake, not anymore, but if it was—

God, if this was a mistake, then Naruto would never, ever stop making it.

"Oh, fuck this," Naruto breathed, and then his lips were on Sasuke's. Fuck holding himself back—Sasuke wrapped his arms around him and apparently agreed, oh, god, he _really_ agreed—he tumbled back and pulled Naruto over him and Naruto—

God.

Naruto kissed him as if he'd been starved. Naruto kissed him like he'd wanted to, after forcing himself to go without over and over and over again—he slipped his hands under Sasuke's shirt and slid them up his torso, spread wide and stuck tight, gripping to him so he wouldn't miss a single _inch_ —

Sasuke shoved a hand in between them. It made Naruto pause just long enough for Sasuke to get his grip, and oh. O- _oh_ , Naruto gasped as Sasuke gripped his cock and gasped again as he lifted his hips—as if saying _look at what you'd done to me_ , as if saying _do something_ , oh god, Naruto would do anything—his elbows buckled and he bit his moan into Sasuke's neck—

_Knock, knock, knock._

They froze.

"Naruto?" came a voice, muffled by the door— "Are you in there?"

Naruto breathed out a sheepish laugh.

"Um," he called back, swallowing, "yeah."

Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto's pants.

"Do you mind if you—" the voice went on—

"Go back to your admirers," Sasuke muttered, scanning Naruto's face, but he—

"But I—" Naruto started—

"Go," Sasuke told him. "I'll be here."

Naruto swallowed, his eyes darting down to Sasuke's lips one last time.

"Promise?"

He searched Sasuke's eyes, hoping that he understood. Here meant so much more than where they were together.

"I promise."

* * *

The thirteenth time it happened, they were sober.

It was the next morning, and Naruto was already awake. Not that he wasn't exhausted, but there were a couple people who slept over and needed to run early on, so—

So he had to wake up. They were alone now, though, and Sasuke had waved a vague hand at him as he'd started on the cleaning. Automatically and easily—Sasuke was right into it. Naruto had huffed out a breath and taken a shower to clear his head, but when he'd come out—

Sasuke had been sitting down, pressing a cool glass of water to his temple.

He'd come back out—after they'd kissed. Last night, he meant. Sasuke had come back out, and been every bit as gorgeous and amazing as he had earlier on. Like he regretted absolutely nothing, and that—

That had Naruto _really_ hoping.

So—fuck it. Fuck it, right? He opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, and plopped it on the table in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke looked up.

"Ugh," he said, "why? Don't open that."

"I dunno," Naruto said, falling down onto the couch beside Sasuke, "it's like we need it or something."

Sasuke looked at him.

Naruto ducked his head, running a nervous hand over the back of his neck before he sat back up.

"I—" he started, "we—"

Fuck. He should have planned this out better. Did he start out right? Should he just lead with the _I love you_? It felt like too much, but Sasuke had had his hand on Naruto's dick only a few hours ago—

"It's a convenient excuse," Sasuke said softly, and Naruto's head jerked up.

Wha—

"Is that what you—after the fifth time, Sasuke?"

Come on, now. And Sasuke probably thought the same, from the way his lips twitched.

"Not for me," he answered, and Naruto…

Wait. Wait, hold on—Naruto watched Sasuke pull his feet back, some sort of fatigue settling into him. Naruto opened his mouth, but Sasuke beat him to it—

"I don't mind," Sasuke started slowly, making a point to stare straight ahead, "if it's only physical. For you."

"If it's—"

"Don't tell me if it is."

Naruto jerked back. That had been quick and panicked, almost like a plea—

"Please," he added, after a moment, and Naruto was _reeling_ — "it's...better if you don't say anything. Either way."

"Fuck that," Naruto snapped, and Sasuke _finally_ looked back at him— "I've been in love with you for _years_."

Sasuke's hand slipped off the armrest.

"What?"

He didn't know.

Naruto breathed out, incredulous—

Sasuke actually didn't fucking know.

"Sas—are you serious? I thought you knew. Fucking hell, I thought you knew—didn't you read—I thought you didn't block me!"

"I didn't—"

"Then what the hell?! Don't tell me I was actually fucking subtle for once—"

"You hated me."

Naruto jerked back.

"I never hated you," he said, taking in every inch of Sasuke's face. He—what? He— "I was pissed as hell, but I—I could never hate you."

Naruto let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair.

"Why d'you think I was—I was so—if anything, I was just fucking jealous about Sakura. You ghosted the shit outta me, but you talked to her—like," he let out a thick, hurting breath, "like all the time. Um—"

"I didn't—"

"You did. I'd ask her about you, and she'd know you were okay." He didn't—he didn't really want to get into any of that or any of those feelings, but he— "Don't—please don't lie to me about—"

Sasuke snatched his phone off the table and shoved it under Naruto's nose.

"Scroll up. I've barely spoken to her since."

Naruto froze, and Sasuke sat back. It took Naruto a good three seconds to get his brain into gear, and he held his breath as he clicked on Sakura's name—low down in Sasuke's messages, because he was right, he'd barely spoken to her since—

' _His adrdess. Iwant to se ehim. Pl eas?e'_

Jesus.

Naruto pressed his lips together to hold in the laugh.

He'd nearly forgotten how completely _gone_ Sasuke had been that night.

But he kept scrolling up, until he...huh? Sasuke was barely saying anything at all. Sasuke was just—

' _?'_

' _He's okay. He passed his psych midterm. He's pretty happy about that. He kept saying he was going to fail. I've been trying to convince him otherwise, but I'm pretty sure there's only one person he'll believe it from.'_

And then, a moment later—

' _You really won't talk to him?'_

Naruto scrolled up again.

Three days before.

' _?'_

' _He's freaking out about school. He'll be fine, but he doesn't know that. He's been doing good, but the last few days have been rough. He really misses you, you know.'_

All like that. All single question marks. All about him. All Sasuke asking about him, Naruto breathed in, and breathed in, and breathed in, and breathed in—

"You fucking asshole," Naruto let out, as the tears finally broke free, "why didn't you—you could've just—lurked my Facebook or something—"

"I did," Sasuke said, staring at the wall again. "You automatically friend anyone who asks. Even ones that don't even have a display picture. Moron."

Naruto stared at him.

Sasuke turned back, and he looked—

Scared.

Sasuke was scared. He'd been scared—

"This whole time?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke stayed, staring, the tension written all over him—

Naruto launched himself into Sasuke's arms.

"You _ass_ ," he said, clutching Sasuke to him like the goddamn lifeline that he'd always been, "you fucking asshole, you've been in love with me this whole—"

Naruto pulled back, staring at Sasuke, needing to know—

"When?" he asked, clutching Sasuke's shirt. "Tell me when."

Sasuke breathed in.

"You don't remember," he said softly. "I don't think you meant to. When we were in high school, at that party you were too drunk at—"

"I remember," Naruto said. "I remembered the whole time, but you never fucking _said_ anything, and then you kissed me when you thought I was sleeping, and then you—"

"You were awake?!"

"Of course I was awake! You kissed me!"

"You kissed me first!"

Naruto barked out a laugh, ducking down to press his forehead to Sasuke's neck.

"Yeah," he said, his voice muffled and breathless. "Please tell me I can do it again."

He pulled back, and Sasuke looked at him as if he was the most brilliant, beautiful thing in the world—

"Please do it again," he breathed, and Naruto was already there. God, he was already, finally there. It was a brilliant, broken, laughing kiss—filled with disbelief and exhilaration and _god_ , a happiness like Naruto had never felt before—

Naruto broke the kiss and settled, breathing heavy, into the nook of Sasuke's neck.

"I'm gonna start crying now," he said. "Don't be offended."

Sasuke breathed out a small laugh and tightened his grip.

"Given that our first kiss made you vomit," he muttered, "I'm not sure how to take that."

Naruto pulled back with a laugh, slapping at Sasuke's shoulder. He was already crying again, damn it, but Sasuke always knew how to make him laugh—

"You ass! You know it wasn't that."

Sasuke's smile widened.

"One can never be sure," he said, and Naruto punched a soft fist into him again.

"Asshole," he said, ducking forwards again. "You ass. I'm—you—"

Naruto swallowed, cutting himself off in a breathless laugh. Sasuke's hands pressed to him gently, tenderly, as if unable to believe—

"Moron," he said, brushing some of Naruto's hair back.

Naruto caught his hand before it could go.

"I can't believe you didn't know."

Sasuke stared at him, and Naruto shook his head again. Sasuke was—Sasuke had been—there had been no one, in his entire life, that had dove into him as deeply as Sasuke had. They'd formed a bond Naruto had never been able to even _think_ about letting go, and to know that Sasuke, this whole time, that Sasuke had felt just as much as he had—

"Say it again," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto _beamed._

"Sasuke," he said, leaning forwards—taking a moment to meet his eye and let him search them for the truth he'd always been able to find—

"I'm in love with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is! I've never done a split like this. Did the two perspectives work? Did one of them answer questions that the other didn't?
> 
> It's been a while since I've been so spirited away by an idea like this. It felt really good. I barely stopped to do anything else! I feel like I could write a whole fic about everything that happened in their lives. I hope these two chapters left you satisfied, though.
> 
> Let me know!
> 
> 'Till next time,  
> \- Kinomi
> 
> P.s. Here are 


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